I got into PIL when I was in middle school, bought this same release under the “compact disc” moniker just because I learned that Johnny Rotten was in the band.
To my surprise they didn’t sound anything like the Sex pistols, and at the time, It blew me away. Now it still has a powerful memory attached to it, but the sounds have a different flavor. Rise is still one of my favorite songs by them, although the rest of the record feels a little dated for my current tatse. Too much rock n’ roll influence? I could try to argue that has to do with the structures that shape most of the cuts, but, this is what also makes Rise shine.
In retrospect, another very important thing to mention, considering that I was barely a teen when I got to experience this record the first time, was the introduction of different instrumental sounds and tonalities, that obviously was not the first time being used, but it was the first time I heard in a less rigid form or that I actually noticed them before turning my head away and qualifying it a dad-rock, noting the work of Steve Vai and Ginger Baker.
nowadays I barely follow anything Lydon does, specially after making a fool of himself even further and becoming just another media troll.
Album, cassette or compact disc is a great release non the less, and definitely relevant from the historical perspective.
it lacks the shine of a lot of contemporary approaches but establishes a solid referent to what Johnny “Rotten” was capable of when the creative pursuit was still his main goal.
Elektra – 1986
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